Devils C Jack Hughes to return Thursday night

The New Jersey Devils activated All-Star center Jack Hughes from injured reserve for Thursday night's game against the Calgary Flames.

Hughes, 22, has not played since suffering an upper-body injury during a Jan. 5 win against the Chicago Blackhawks.

He missed the Devils' past 11 games and also missed Saturday's All-Star Game after being selected for the third straight season.

"I'm excited to get back out there," he said at Thursday's morning skate. "We definitely played really well the last game, it was a big win coming out of the break. Hopefully we can ride that and piece together a couple of wins and make a serious push here."

Hughes ranks second on the team with 45 points (15 goals, 30 assists) despite playing only 32 games this season.

Drafted No. 1 overall in 2019, Hughes has recorded 252 points (102 goals, 150 assists) in 276 games since making his NHL debut in October 2019.